Departmental Affiliations
Sara Benjamin-Neelon, PhD, JD, MPH, is an attorney and child nutritionist who examines early life predictors of obesity and other chronic diseases with a health equity lens.
Contact Info
Research Interests
Community-based interventions targeting children and families; Domestic and global chronic disease prevention; Epigenetic and environmental changes affecting child growth; Evaluation of natural experiments to create healthier food and physical activity environments; Evaluation of nutrition and physical activity policy change; Food insecurity and health; Health disparities in early life feeding, physical activity, sleep, and stress; Health equity; Policy analysis; Population-based assessment; Social determinants of health.
Experiences & Accomplishments
Pronouns: She/Her/Hers.
Select Publications
Some recent publications:
Benjamin-Neelon SE, Bai J, Østbye T, Neelon B, Pate RR, Crainiceanu C. Physical activity and adiposity in a racially diverse cohort of US infants. Obesity. 2020;28(3)631-637. PMCID forthcoming.
Benjamin-Neelon SE, Allen CA, Neelon B. Household food security and infant adiposity. Pediatrics. 2020 Sep;146(3):e20193725. doi: 10.1542/peds.2019-3725. PMCID forthcoming.
Benjamin-Neelon SE, Neelon B. Associations between maternal and paternal feeding styles of infants in a racially diverse US birth cohort. Pediatric Obesity. 2020; 15(10):e12712. PMCID forthcoming.
Gonzalez-Nahm S, Grossman ER, Benjamin-Neelon SE. The role of equity in US state breastfeeding policies. JAMA Pediatrics. 2019 Aug 12. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2019.2582. [Epub ahead of print].
Benjamin Neelon SE, White AJ, Vidal AC, Schildkraut JM, Murtha AP, Murphy SK, Kullman SW, Hoyo C. Maternal vitamin D, DNA methylation at imprint regulatory regions, and offspring weight at birth, 1 year, and 3 years. International Journal of Obesity. 2018;42(4):587-593.